Greece 0 - Japan 0

Photo by Lars Baron

Japan and Greece faced each other today in Group C action in Natal. The teams did not want to come out of their defensive shells too early in this match, but Japan eventually were the first team to go for the attack. Japanese forward Yuya Osako shot a curler from the top left of the penalty box that flashed just wide of the far post. A Keisuke Honda free kick was easily parried by Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. In minute 38, Greece lost captain Kostas Katsouranis to a second yellow card, leaving them to defend for a draw for the next fifty-five minutes of the match. Vasileios Torosidis had a late attacking chance for the Greeks. His initial shot from just outside the box was blocked, but he gathered his own rebound and forced a save from Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima. The first half ended with the teams knotted at zero goals apiece.

Theofanis Gekas came in as a second-half substitute and nearly scored a goal for Greek in spite of their numerical disadvantage. Off a corner kick, he powered a header that was slightly slowed by the body of Yasuhito Endo, allowing Kawashima time to come across the goal and make the save. Midway through the period, Japanese forward Shinji Kagawa (pictured, blue) hit a beautiful cross to Atsuto Uchida. Uchida laid the ball across the ball to Yoshito Okubo, who shanked his chance with the goal at his mercy. Minutes later, Uchida stripped Sokratis Papastathopoulos inside the Greek penalty area, but his one-time finish zoomed wide of the post. Okubo tried to scored with a knuckler from distance, but Karnezkis read the movement well and punched the ball to safety. In the final minute of regular time, Endo 's free kick low to the far post elicited one final diving stop from Karnezis. In spite of being a man down for a majority of the affair, Greece escape with a 0-0 draw. The result means that Colombia are guaranteed a spot in the knockout stage.

Colombia IN 6 pts +4
Cote d'Ivoire 3 pts 0
Japan 1 pts -1
Greece 1 pts -3

Match Reports:
http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/4/blog/post/1896075/three-points-japangreece-underwhelm-in-draw
http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/story/1896124/fernando-santos-calls-greece-brilliant-after-red-card

Highlights:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/videos/highlights/match=300186454/index.html